1. Technical Field
This invention relates to fire prevention systems and, more particularly, to an outdoor fire prevention system for reducing a likelihood of fire damage while preserving water consumption.
2. Prior Art
The spread of wild fires to residential areas is a constant threat in many locations, particularly during dry seasons. Often such wild fires will cause damage to many homes and buildings which are burned either from direct contact with flames or from embers spewed from the fire that fall on the roofs of homes and buildings, sometimes from a long distance from the fire. Thus, such fires threaten destruction to large areas crowded with residential homes and other buildings. When a wild fire threatens a certain area, firefighters have little option but to directly fight the fire itself or take the necessary actions to address the threat of the fire spreading. A lack of manpower and adequate resources in many instances results in devastation of homes and buildings without any type of fire prevention or fire suppression equipment.
A variety of water systems for controlling wildfires that frequently approach a dwelling or a building have been employed in the past. Such systems disclose basic removable and manually operated sprinkler systems often supplied by garden hoses and meant to be placed on the roof when fires are approaching. These roof top systems can be a good tool for fighting off small fires until fire fighters can arrive to assist the home owner. They also may assist in stopping the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings. Unfortunately, known removable roof top sprinkler systems are difficult to successfully place on the roof in order to reach all areas of the house and take considerable time to install on a roof when fires may be rapidly approaching. Further, known sprinkler systems may unnecessarily dispense water to areas of the roof that are not in danger, thereby needlessly using water supplies.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,569 to Adams discloses a pop up roof sprinkler system attached to the roof of a building and including a fire retardant solution, a dispensing tube that has a distal portion extending outwardly from the roof, and a cap member. The cap member has a head portion and an insertion portion that are movable between an open position and a closed position. The open position is defined by the head portion being spaced from the dispensing tube to permit dispensation of the fire retardant solution through the dispensing tube. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not provide a system that controls the discharge of water to only those sections of the roof that need it, thereby preserving water consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,951 to Salazar discloses a roof mounted evaporative cooling system utilizing a plurality of elongate deflectors that are supported and secured a short distance above the ridge of a gable roof by a plurality of support bracket connectors. The support bracket connectors are joined together by a plurality of sections of flexible tubing having opposed ends engaged on a hose barb of the connectors and secured by hose clamps. Water is supplied to the connectors by conduit connected through a battery operated timer to an outdoor water faucet or to the cold water supply pipe in the attic of the building. In operation, the fine mist of water is under standard domestic water pressure and spreads evenly along the underside of the deflectors and runs onto the roof. Unfortunately, this prior art example is operated by a timer and does not provide a plurality of heat-detecting sensors positioned along the roof structure to activate the water discharging mechanism when the roof temperature reaches a certain level due to fire.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,073 to Haney discloses a portable fire protection system that has a plurality of sprinkler assemblies connected together in series. Each sprinkler assembly has a water manifold pipe, a pair of U-shaped supports, and a sprinkler head pivotally connected to the water manifold pipe. During use, the support legs of the front and rear U-shaped supports are supported by front and rear roof sections of a house with the apex of the roof extending between the pair of U-shaped supports. The intended purpose of the design is to replace the use of a common garden sprinkler being placed on the roof to ward off fire. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not provide an automatic activation of a water discharging mechanism and instead requires a user to set up and manually activate the water when fire damage is impending.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,072 to Brown discloses a device and method for inhibiting the spread of a fire to the roof of a building by placing a base supporting a sprinkler on the roof. A hose connected to the base and in fluid communication with the sprinkler provides a source of water ejected from the sprinkler onto the roof. The interior of the base may be wetted to increase its weight. A rope, normally stored on a spool removably attached to the base, may be used to reposition the base on the roof. Unfortunately, this system also requires the user to quickly set up the water discharging mechanism when fire damage is impending by attempting to position the device in the proper location to reach every area of the roof in danger.
Accordingly, a need remains for an outdoor fire prevention system in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a system that is convenient and easy to use, is durable in design, is versatile in its applications, and provides users with a custom designed fire prevention system for their dwelling. Not just for home owners, the present invention is also invaluable for commercial establishments as well, allowing businesses to better protect their interests and assets. The system effectively eliminates the spread of wildfires while also preserving water consumption. Additionally, the system tempers the increasing costs of fire insurance, another important advantage that makes this system well received by the general consumer populace as well as most business establishments.